The Corporation

“The corporation’s legally defined mandate is to pursue, relentlessly and without exception, its own self-interest, regardless of the often harmful consequences it might cause to others. As a result, I argue, the corporation is a pathological institution, a dangerous possessor of the great power it wields over people and societies.” 

Corporations are chartered by governments and mandated strictly to protect the financial interests of their investors. If misbehavior improves profits, then the corporation will misbehave. By its very nature, the corporation sometimes becomes a bad citizen. 

“Today, corporations govern our lives. They determine what we eat, what we watch, what we wear, where we work, and what we do. We are inescapably surrounded by their culture, iconography, and ideology.” 

The freedom corporations enjoy has enabled them to prosper enormously, and building on that, they have begun to imprint themselves onto every corner of society and culture. 

“America’s nineteenth-century railroad barons, men lionized by some and vilified by others, were the true creators of the modern corporate era.” 

The railroads, which first connect all of America and its resources, encourage the growth of related industries and open the frontiers for settlement and development. On this great success, the barons campaign for free rein in developing the industrial future, and they are granted that freedom.